Thousands of migrants seek work in food production in the East

The Fenland Citizen Advice Bureau (CAB) says despite the Gangmasters Licensing Authority's (GLA) efforts complaints against rogue operators are increasing.

The CAB report says while most gangmasters have registered with the GLA, some still flout workers' rights.

The GLA said it was taking enforcement action where it was needed.

The GLA was set up after 21 Chinese cockle pickers died at Morecambe Bay in Lancashire in 2005.

Its aim is to stamp out unscrupulous gangmasters who exploit workers - often migrant workers - particularly in the food processing and agricultural industry.

Linda Hutchinson, bureau manager of the Fenland CAB, said many Latvians and Lithuanians were brought over to Cambridgeshire and Norfolk by gangmasters.

'Vulnerable workers'

She said that while some gangmasters in the region treat workers well and responsibly, others "are just breaching all sorts of agreements and legislation".

She has concerns about the GLA which she believed was "more concerned about getting them licensed than worrying about what they do once they are licensed".

The Fenland CAB report says: "Certain gangmasters receive several complaints each week, often where violence has been threatened against workers.

"Complaints against gangmasters are increasing, not decreasing as we hoped they would with licence enforcement," says the report.

Jack Dromey, the union T&G's deputy general secretary, told BBC News: "We fought hard for the licensing of gangmasters, as some unscrupulous operators were treating vulnerable workers like slaves.

"The passing of the Gangmasters Licensing Act [which set up the GLA] was a victory for exploited workers, but an act alone does not answer the problems. It needs to be rigorously enforced, and apply without exemption to sectors of the economy where unscrupulous gangmasters operate."

A spokesman for the GLA said: "The GLA will only make a difference through effective enforcement - through cautions, arrests, revocations and loss or disruption of business."